1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of packaging materials, and more particularly to a novel package filler material having shock-absorbing capabilities and a machine for making such packaging filler material whereby the user may readily dispense, on site, a quantity of such filler material from a machine which fabricates the filler material in the form of inflated pouches or cells detachably connected together in an in-line series.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to provide a packaging material composed of small masses of foam composition, such as composed from polystyrene or polyethylene. Such packaging material is used as fillers or stuffers in a compartment so as to protect fragile products when transported from one place to another either by commercial or government handling authorities. Such plastic-like pieces of foam are sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cpeanutsxe2x80x9d because of their peanut-like shape, and in other instances, the foam composition is of irregular form or of special form conforming in shape to the article being transported in the carton. In the instance of xe2x80x9cpeanutsxe2x80x9d, such foam composition is purchased in large bags which are kept in inventory at the site of shipment until ready for usage. This represents a relatively uneconomical means for such packaging material since it requires space for storage and must be purchased before usage from outside sources. In some instances, problems have been encountered by the receiver of packages containing such conventional foam material which stem from disposal problems since some plastic foam compositions are not acceptable for recycling procedures.
Another prior packaging material takes the form of a unitary sheet having a multiplicity of integrally formed air bubbles that are connected together on the sheet and not separable. Such sheets are manufactured off-site from their location of use and are generally stored in rolls at the location of use after purchase and supply by the manufacturer. Also, the user must either fold the sheet to fit the article to be shipped, or specifically cut the sheet to accommodate the package.
Most all presently available package fillers such as xe2x80x9cPopcornxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cPeanutxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cBubble-Wrapxe2x80x9d are made in factories requiring vast floor space to manufacture and inventory the volume of products for distribution. This procedure requires further energy as well as other resources that are wasted. Shipment and distribution require packing in spools, storage bags or the like.
One attempt to provide on-site fabrication machinery for producing a quantity of shock-absorbing cells is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,868. Although successful for the machinery""s intended purposes, the machine requires considerable moving parts, timing functions and control stations. These create problems and difficulties that need to be avoided for on-site manufacture of package filler materials.
Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a novel packaging material which need not be stored in inventory at the point of manufacture and shipment, but which may be fabricated by the user on-site at the time that such material is needed. The on-site fabricated product will not only protect the object being shipped in the carton or package but can be disposed of by the recipient once the package has been opened and the shipped article removed. Furthermore, such a desired packaging material must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture as compared to foam or foam-like compositions.
Accordingly, the above problems and difficulties are obviated by the present invention which provides a novel packaging filler material comprised of an inflated pouch or cell defined between opposing surfaces of plastic-like material sheets that are joined about their peripheral edges in a sealed manner. Such a pouch or cell may be manufactured at the site of use by a novel machine which produces the pouches or cells in a serial fashion separable by a perforated means for detaching adjacent ones of the cells from each other at the selection of the user, depending on his shipping requirement. Such a machine includes a tubular source of plastic sheet material that is heat sealed along its length in spaced-apart perforated strips so that a plurality of pouches or cells is defined between the strips. The perforated heat sealed strips define the sides of each pouch or cell while the bottom is closed by a fold of the sheet material with the top of the pouch or cell open for receiving air intended to fill the pouch or cell. A common conduit communicates with the open end in each pouch or cell for insertably receiving an inflation device. A belt system grips the plastic tubular sheet material and moves the material through the machine past the inflation device, through a heater for sealing the pouch or cell and past a trimming means for severing scrap or waste material. Individual pouches or cells may be separated from the bulk sheet material by separating the selected pouches or cells along the perforated strips.
In one form of the machine, the tubular supply of plastic material with pre-formed pouches or cells is fed to a machine timed so that multiple stations will effect inflation of each pouch or cell followed by sealing each pouch or cell at spaced intervals along its length to define a plurality of inflated pouches or cells and which provides additional means for providing a detachment or separation between adjacent ones of the pouches or cells so that upon discharge, the strip may be separated into one, two, three or more inflated pouches or cells at the selection of the user. In one form of the invention, the sealing means may be a heat treatment process while the detachable or separation means may take the form of perforations or a slit provided between adjacent ends of the respective inflated cells.
Therefore, it is among the primary objects of the present invention to provide a novel packaging or filler material which is an inflated pouch or cell and which may be combined with other separate pouches or cells to form a shock-absorbing and stuffing material to be carried in cartons or shipping containers about an object to be transported.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel packaging material that may be readily produced at the site of shipping and which may comprise one or more air-filled pockets or cells in a strip for use in the shipping process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for producing a series of air-filled pouches, pockets or cells in a strip so that the user may dispense as many cells as required for shipping purposes.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for producing a package material that is produced from a continuous series of pouches that are initially inflated and sealed to enclose air, followed by dividing the air-filled pouches into a plurality of inflated pouches in an end-to-end relationship and which includes means for cutting scrap material away.
Another object relates to the disposal of the inventive pockets or cells that permits ready deflation and destruction of used material for environmental purposes such as recycling.